The best approach to language learning is balance. That said, grammar alone won’t take you far; neither will a list of new words. Fiction in its original version will teach you a lot about German culture and people, but not everything; the same holds true for YouTube videos and movies. Each of these tools serves as an important building block toward your success with a new language. In this context, German TV series and German movies cannot be neglected. They boost your listening skills, expand your vocabulary, teach you native speakers’ syntax, and improve your grasp of slang. What's more, they take you on a ride around German history, extending their impact beyond language learning.
Up until recently, it was quite challenging to find a German TV show online if you lived outside Germany. Fortunately for contemporary language learners, the Internet is becoming more and more flooded with original German content. In a recent Flying Languages article, we shared some great resources and websites that you can browse for German shows and news.
Today, our German language instructor Birgit and Alex, her German learning student, will be discussing the most popular Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu series that you will love.
- Hi Alex! Wanna top off German YouTubers class?
- Morgen, Birgit! Are we having another pick-up class?
- Sogar besser!
- What could possibly be better than that? Bier-und-Schnitzel eating class?
- You're getting warmer...
- Warmer than a flirting class? Hmm...
- Warmer like in a hide-and-seek game, you Anmachspruch guru.
- I’m not gonna guess.
- A tip: snacks are welcome in this class.
- Netflix?
- Bingo!
- Really?
- We're going to talk about German TV shows on Netflix. Happy?
- Tickled pink. Yay!
- What’s up with the sarcasm? I thought you were already binge-watching Charité!
- Kinda. I fell in love with Anni Waldhausen, moved on to the second season, and got stuck. It’s just too speedy and intense at times.
- Language-wise?
- Yeah.
- I see. Today we’re going to dig a bit deeper into the topic and try to learn mit deutschen TV Shows zu arbeiten.
- Working with German TV shows sounds like a fun class indeed.
- I missed you, Herr Whiny-Pants, but I’m not falling for your whining. What I’ll do instead is give you step-by-step instructions on how to work with German shows in the original language:
- This watching session is starting to feel like an academic paper...
- Only on... paper, funny enough. It’s truly fun when you try it at least once.
- Kleine Finger Schwur?
- Yeah, bite me by the pinky if I’m lying.
- You know I’ll do it, right?
- I'm certain you will.
- Good.
There are quite a few German TV shows available on German television. Moreover, many German TV shows are now available on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and even Sundance TV. You can use English subtitles or German subtitles as supplementary tools. Learning German with a German series is not only effective but also fun.
- Should we start with some humorous Netflix series?
- Do Germans even do comedy? I assumed you’d be bombarding me with business and history movies.
- There you have another reason why you need this list.
- Why's that?
- To get rid of half-baked stereotypes. Not all German television shows revolve around bank investments and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
- Hmm… "not all", so only about 80%?
- Don't be a language nerd, Alex.
- But... what other type of nerd should I be in this class...?
- Blah-blah to distract me from teaching. Stay focused! When searching for any of the following TV shows on Netflix, make sure to manually switch the language. Even original German productions will be automatically suggested in the dubbed versions.
- So unfair.
- It is!
I bet you’ll fall for this one – it’s a dark comedy titled Altes Geld (2015). Made in Austria and incorporating sharp Austrian sarcasm and unbeatable irony, it unveils the problems of the wealthy have-it-alls. A rich family is looking for a liver transplant for their father...
- And that’s funny because…?
- … 'cause they make it funny. Dark humor, I told you.
- Great that you sign me up for this exact kind of humor, Birgit. I appreciate it.
- Well, this is the most intellectual humor. I think highly of you, Alex.
- Oh, if that’s the case…
- What's going on with their pronunciation?
- Ah, that. Yeah, this is a Viennese series. You know Austrians have their specific Aussprache. Expect ka’ for kein, ned for nicht, I for ich, wos for was, worten for warten, and the like.
- Should I expect to understand anything at all?
- Okay-okay, skip shows like this for now. Get back to them afterward, though. They're truly hilarious.
- If you want something more light humored, check out this series.
- Yeah, the title suggests lots of humor.
- Isn't that the very ecstasy effect?
- Stop mentioning that little Amsterdam adventure, Birgit. It was a long time ago.
- Anyway, the show revolves around the life of a high school nerd, Moritz Zimmermann, who lives in a fictional town somewhere in North Rhine-Westphalian. With his best friend, they sell drugs online.
- Uhh, mama I’m a criminal.
- I’ll tell you more – the series is based on a real story.
- In Germany? And then the world points fingers at American schools.
- Gee, I looked exactly like this in high school.
- Did you also...
- No, Birgit, I didn't sell drugs.
- Some other great shows on Netflix I’d recommend…
- Birgit, I have a life outside this class.
- Right – the one on your couch, with remote control.
- And a pretty girl by my side...
- ...watching a good German show like:
- It'll be entirely your fault if I stay single till the end of my days watching German shows on Netflix. I could be going out flirting instead of watching a guy cleaning up blood after murders.
Although Hulu is an American streaming service, you can use German audio and German subtitles for some shows. On Hulu, you can find some of the best German TV series: e.g., Deutschland 83 (2015), Das Boot (2018), and Bad Banks (2019).
- Are you, perhaps, into thriller movies?
- What’s more thrilling than selling ecstasy online?
- You check these and get back to me.
- I'm intrigued.
- I’d call this series a supernatural thriller with a twist. It has everything: a missing child, family drama, science fiction, and psychological tension.
- Spooky.
- Well, it also stars that young woman from Usi & Ossi. What's her name?
- Lisa Vicari; how could you forget?
- Yes. That one.
- Oh, she’s eye candy.
- She is. You still get that feeling of uneasiness when you watch the episodes. They're dark, gloomy, and depressing.
- Twice as depressing if you don’t get what they say in German.
- Well, everyone, language learners included, has been praising the watching experience. It’s the first German Netflix series, by the way.
- Iconic.
- Check what the director and screenwriter, and actor have to say about it.
- Alex, didn't you once mention you used to have medical ambitions?
- Yeah, if you can call them so. I was dreaming of becoming a doctor as I was watching Grey’s Anatomy.
- You’d make a great Nikh Marsh.
- No one would ever entrust me with a liver transplant, Birgit. They’d only keep me for my sense of humor.
- Heh, right.
- So, do you have a Grey’s Anatomy-type show in German?
- Oh, actually we do. It's Biohackers (2020). This German sci-fi series focuses on the life of a medical student who becomes interested in illegal genetic experimentation after her little brother’s death.
- Uhh, mysteries.
- And a bit of forecasting. The producers had to postpone the launch of the show as the first episodes featured a pandemic outbreak…
- So they predicted Covid? You know I stopped watching Black Mirror because of their twisted imagination that keeps becoming reality, right?
- Before you start whining…
- I wasn’t going to.
- Before you start feeling the urge to whine, here’s a list of some other German must-see shows on Netflix:
Yes, Babylon Berlin (2017) is available on Netflix as well as on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. This German TV show unveils what happens behind the scenes in the dangerous world of organized crime and pornography. Babylon Berlin is considered one of the best German TV shows ever produced.
- You’re gonna hate this, but I know you love some sobbing dramas and even soap operas.
- Why would I hate this, Birgit?
- Well, because you’re a brutal guy who tries to impress girls with your pick-up lines.
- ... and who reads romantic poetry by Rilke and spends Friday nights sobbing during Charité (2017).
- Oh, Charité. It was I who recommended this period drama to you.
- Yes. It’s so binge-able! I keep procrastinating as I fear missing a new episode. Who’s your favorite one?
- It has to be Ida.
- I knew it! Smart, assertive. She beats everyone in the hospital.
- And I love this show's true historical background. I mean, did you know Robert Koch, a Noble Prize winner, worked in this hospital? You truly learn a lot while watching this drama.
- I know, right? I'm not even being sarcastic this time!
- You’re also bound to like this show that focuses on beer.
- Wow! This is a student-oriented approach, Birgit.
- Right. A pint of beer goes well with an episode of this series. Disclaimer: It’s not an easy comedy. This show has love, murder, history, and …
- What’s this dreamy look about?
- …and Klaus Steinbacher as Roman Hoflinger. Er is ein Crush!
- Is there eine Crush in for me?
- Check it yourself.
- So many great recommendations, and I’m already binge-watching two German series. Where will I find time for them all?
- Great news – Oktoberfest only offers one season, so far. Make it a binge-watching weekend, and you’re done.
- A great tip.
- To learn German?
- To start hating German.
- More drama? I thought you had enough drama with me as a student, Birgit.
- I do. But just in case you need more, though…
- Oh, I see.
- Here’s the list:
There are lots of German TV shows on Netflix as Netflix is very popular in Germany. Some of the best German Netflix series include
- Criminal Germany (2019), an intellectual crime drama that takes place in a police interrogation room;
- Charité at War (2019), the sequel to Charité (2017) with a focus on the World War II;
- Parfum (2018), a re-make version of Patrick Süskind that revolves around a serial killing in a boarding school;
- Der Tatortreiniger (2014), a humorous take on the unglamorous job of a crime scene cleaner.
- As always, I’m wrapping up with some gute Nachrichten for you, my friend.
- Good news. I wonder what that could be...? A list of 10 more series?
- Well, if you need more…
- No, no, no! You were saying?
- What I meant was that for people like you, who aren’t fans of German grammar, watching German shows on Netflix is a great way to boost basically all grammar aspects: starting with nouns, articles, and pronouns and finishing with adjectives and subjunctives.
- Oh, "people like me", you say...
- German grammar dawns on you through the words of Ida Lenze.
- That somehow makes it feel better.
Today, streaming services like Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Netflix are quite affordable. If you are ready to pay for them anyway, why not take this chance to pay for some German content? Look at it as a language learning investment. There’s a way to watch some of the listed series even for free. We mentioned a bunch of our favorite German shows and movies with website links here. How great is it that we get to enjoy quality materials while learning new vocabulary, improving grammar, and honing sentence structure in a target language? Plus, the selection is so rich that everyone will find something they totally love.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to strike a balance between formal language learning (textbooks, grammar guides, and teacher-student lessons) and language immersion (German news and TV shows, books in their original version , and real-life communication). Fall into the German language and culture head over heels and see amazing results in no time. Birgit, Alex, and Flying Languages will do their best to support you in this pleasant endeavor.
